This article is part of our MLB Observations series.
For Wednesday's SiriusXM show and Daily Draft, we had Rob Silver join us to discuss the NFBC, the potential start of the MLB season and what it might look like, and to participate in an All-Time Blue Jays draft. Unlike our Cardinals draft earlier in the week, the Jays don't have a deep history, having been founded in 1977. So in a few a cases a good 2-3 years is all you need to make this squad.
We gave Rob first choice of picks, and he opted to go first. Liss went second, giving me the wheel. Unlike other franchises, the clear top two choices on the Jays' all-time list are pitchers, and that's the way it played out, with Rob selecting Roy Halladay and Liss taking Dave Steib. After those two, there's a huge drop-off among the pitchers - and that's a theme for this franchise. So many positions have stark tier drop-offs after the top player at his position. Thus, when I took Tony Fernandez along with Jose Bautista with my first two picks, I had a big advantage at shortstop.
Here are the full results of the draft, as always followed by the team breakdown:
Rd | Team | Player |
1 | Silver | Roy Halladay |
1 | Liss | Dave Steib |
1 | Erickson | Jose Bautista |
2 | Erickson | Tony Fernandez |
2 | Liss | Carlos Delgado |
2 | Silver | Robbie Alomar |
3 | Silver | Jimmy Key |
3 | Liss | Pat Hentgen |
3 | Erickson | Roger Clemens |
4 | Erickson | Jesse Barfield |
4 | Liss | Vernon Wells |
4 | Silver | John Olerud |
5 | Silver | Josh Donaldson |
5 | Liss | Juan Guzman |
5 | Erickson | Lloyd Moseby |
6 | Erickson | Tom Henke |
6 | Liss | Edwin Encarnacion |
6 | Silver | Jorge Bell |
7 | Silver | Joe Carter |
7 | Liss | Aaron Hill |
7 | Erickson | Fred McGriff |
8 | Erickson | Ernie Whitt |
8 | Liss | Kelly Gruber |
8 | Silver | Devon White |
9 | Silver | Jim Clancy |
9 | Liss | David Wells |
9 | Erickson | Marcus Stroman |
10 | Erickson | Alex Rios |
10 | Liss | Shannon Stewart |
10 | Silver | Duane Ward |
11 | Silver | Russell Martin |
11 | Liss | Shawn Green |
11 | Erickson | Doyle Alexander |
12 | Erickson | Rance Mulliniks |
12 | Liss | Chris Carpenter |
12 | Silver | Paul Molitor |
13 | Silver | Kelvim Escobar |
13 | Liss | Alex Gonzalez |
13 | Erickson | Damaso Garcia |
14 | Erickson | Mark Eichorn |
14 | Liss | R.A. Dickey |
14 | Silver | Alfredo Griffin |
15 | Silver | Billy Koch |
15 | Liss | Gregg Zaun |
15 | Erickson | Marco Estrada |
Results by Team:
Silver | Liss | Erickson | |
C | Russell Martin | Gregg Zaun | Ernie Whitt |
1B | John Olerud | Carlos Delgado | Fred McGriff |
2B | Robbie Alomar | Aaron Hill | Damaso Garcia |
3B | Josh Donaldson | Kelly Gruber | Rance Mulliniks |
SS | Alfredo Griffin | Alex Gonzalez | Tony Fernandez |
OF1 | Jorge Bell | Vernon Wells | Jose Bautista |
OF2 | Joe Carter | Shannon Stewart | Jesse Barfield |
OF3 | Devon White | Shawn Green | Lloyd Moseby |
UT | Paul Molitor | Edwin Encarnacion | Alex Rios |
P1 | Roy Halladay | Dave Stieb | Roger Clemens |
P2 | Jimmy Key | Pat Hentgen | Tom Henke |
P3 | Jim Clancy | Juan Guzman | Marcus Stroman |
P4 | Duane Ward | David Wells | Doyle Alexander |
P5 | Kelvim Escobar | Chris Carpenter | Mark Eichorn |
P6 | Billy Koch | R.A. Dickey | Marco Estrada |
Take a look at those pitchers at the bottom of each team. It gets dicey pretty quick.
Who won this draft? Which players were notable omissions? Who should not have been taken?